Resident Chuck Moran urges school board to remove Phil Varner materials from renaming process

Chuck Moran, a neighborhood resident who lives next to Johnson Elementary, told the Charlottesville City Public Schools board on Sept. 19 that documents prepared by researcher Phil Varner have unfairly framed local namesakes and should be removed from the division's renaming materials.

22Mr. Varner's story unfortunately has led to the defamation of my great aunt Sarapa Moran,22 Moran said during the public-comment period, arguing the research "maligns" some Caucasian namesakes while sparing African American ones. He said the author's work is presented as a narrative rather than a professional historical analysis and that the board and division have relied on those documents in the renaming process.

Moran asked the board to take three specific steps: rescind reliance on the Varner materials, remove them from the division's website, and resubmit the previously decided names Burnley Moran and Johnson to the advisory committee process so they can be fairly reviewed alongside other namesakes.

The resident said he had emailed the superintendent and thanked Dr. Gurley for a considered response. Moran told the board he had documented what he sees as bias in multiple forms and asked a board member to make a motion at the meeting to remove the documents and return the two schools to committee review.

The board did not take formal action on Moran's request during the meeting. Moran's remarks preceded the meeting's action item on the school-naming policy; a division staff member later told the board that the policy language adopted in December 2023 needed to be reinstated after an incorrect file had been uploaded following May revisions.

Moran's central allegation — that Varner's write-up is biased and defames his relative — was stated during his three-minute public comment and was not disputed on the record at the meeting. The transcript alternately spells the researcher's surname as "Varner" and "Barner"; this article uses "Phil Varner" consistent with Moran's spoken reference. The district did not announce any immediate change to the renaming materials at the meeting.

The board moved on to its scheduled action items after public comment; there was no vote recorded at the meeting to remove the Varner materials or to reopen the previously affirmed renamings. The public comment period and the policy discussion are likely to figure in any future advisory-committee review or staff recommendations about the renaming process.